I played this game tonight with my son (8 years), but I never know the exact rules so I decided to invent my own set of rules which worked out remarkably well. Much better than the original rules, whatever the exact rules may be. So what are the rules:

Use 1 dice

Throw 6 -> you can throw again

Land on a goose -> go back to the previous goose

Land on the dice -> you can throw again

Land on a bridge -> go forward to the next goose

Land on the tombstone/dead goose (58) or waterpit (31) -> start from the beginning

Land on jail -> skip 1 throw

Land on another player -> that other player has to go back to the previous goose

To finish/win you have to land exactly on 63 otherwise count back the extra steps

Combinations of above rules are possible. E.g. rule 2 + rule 7 = another throw and skip 1 throw = nothing happens. E.g. rule 4 + rule 2 = You have 2(!) throws. E.g. rule 3 + rule 8 = Suppose player 1 is on goose 32 and you are on 30, you throw 2, you go to 32, now you both have to go back to goose 27.

The good/fun thing about this rule set is the fact that landing on a goose sets you back a bit. This plus rule 9 make it that you will land much more often on the tombstone/dead goose and also on the waterpit, so you have to start over again.

Example: Suppose you are on 62. When you throw 6 you will (by counting back) end on the tombstone/dead goose and thus have to start over again. Throwing 5 will make you land on goose 59 which sets you back to goose 54 and so you have to pass the tombstone/dead goose again(!) … This add much to the tension and fun (and even mild frustrations if you hit another tombstone:)

You will be surprised how many times you end up as a dead goose/tombstone or in the waterpit.